Divergent effects of social media use on meaning in life via loneliness and existential isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Stay-at-home orders issued to combat the growing number of infections during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 had many psychological consequences for people including elevated stress, anxiety, and difficulty maintaining meaning in their lives. The present studies utilized cross-sectional designs and were conducted to better understand how social media usage related to people's subjective isolation (i.e., social loneliness, emotional loneliness, and existential isolation) and meaning in life (MIL) during the early months of the pandemic within the United States. Study 1 found that general social media use indirectly predicted higher MIL via lower existential isolation and social isolation. Study 2 replicated these patterns and found that social media use also predicted lower MIL via higher

SUBMITTER: Helm PJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9096014 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature